Well it's that time of year again. The site has been defunct for a while since I jumped ship to GSL, then jumped ship right into the ocean. But considering my OCD nature forces me to list and rank everything, and considering I don't feel like creating a new website (or, God help me, a Tumblr), here go the lists......and who knows, maybe after some fresh inspiration, 2011 will bring a return to proper blogging.
As it stands, I couldn't let the year go by without doing something, as it's easily been the best year for music in recent memory, and found several veteran acts returning to the scene bigger than ever. Small disclaimer: as usual, I count one song per LP or EP, and considering my true favorite track of the year runs over 25 minutes long, I figured it was only fair to leave it out. So with a small drumroll, let's count down the best songs of 2010 (not named "Impossible Soul")!
70.Antoine Dodson & the Gregory Brothers - "The Bed Intruder Song"
Sometimes an internet meme crosses the line from joke to cultural touchstone. I won't go so far as to say that's what happened here, but you'd be a fool not to admit there's genius here, somewhere.
69.Male Bonding - "Weird Feelings"
Many predicted 2010 would spell the beginning of the end for Lo-Fi. Many were wrong.
68.Gayngs - "Cry"
Justin Vernon's had one hell of a year. Between touring with Bon Iver and guesting on several Kanye tracks (besides, obviously, the Bon Iver-sampled "Lost in the World", he also pops up in the scorching "Monster"), he had time for this Sade-shaded (semi-serious?) side project.
67.Ke$ha - "We R Who We R"
The maniacal Dr. Luke gift-wraps the slutcore queen with a song so retarded, yet endearing, that literally no other pop star could pull it off. In the past, the "Tik Tok" singer's grimy boasts sounded forced, but here, in her Declaration of Inde-whore-ance, she sounds fully assured, comfortable standing up for her right to stand for nothing but drugs, dancing, and couch crashing. Can't say she makes it sound enticing to the rest of us; but with such hollow sentiments proudly worn on the song's sleeve (the autotuned, record-skipping chorus is the ultimate inside joke), it's all basically akin to watching animals frolic in a zoo. Wasn't that kind of the intention behind this Ke$ha project to begin with? Mission finally accomplished.
66.Junip - "Rope and Summit"
Jose Gonzales' unmistakable voice leads you to the promised land on the Swiss hush project's debut single.
65.M.I.A. - "Born Free"
A truly tasteless video distracted folks from the fact that this is actually a great track (Bonus member of Suicide backing her up in this clip!).
64.Los Campesinos - "A Heat Rash in the Shape of the Show Me State or Letters From Me to Charlotte"
The British wack-pack matures a bit across many of their new album's tracks. This is not one of those, but sometimes maturity is overrated.
63.Usher feat. Jay-Z - "Hot Toddy"
Jay-Z finally admits he's a puppet of the Illuminati. Now with that out of the way, it's time to dance.
62.ceo - "Come With Me"
As much as I despise the term chillwave, sometimes it just fits...
61.Wise Blood - B.I.G. E.G.O.
Like Girl Talk, if he stopped swimming through his samples, and decided to float in them for a while, wave pool style. But with less urine.
60.How To Dress Well - "Ecstasy With Jojo"
MJ comes back from the dead to serenade MDMA-fueled hipsters. Not as sad as it sounds.
59.No Age - "Fever Dreaming"
The downtown LA wonder duo hit their stride in the rawest cut from their excellent sophomore effort.
58.MGMT - "Flash Delirium
Psychedlia gives way to Zombies-era garage rock in the Congratulations centerpiece.
57.Deerhunter - "Revival"
And the garage rawkin' continues with the weirdo Georgia boys taking things in a slightly darker direction.
56. The Soft Pack - "Parasites"
.....and the garage revival finally meets post-punk depression with the former Muslims' hottest track.
55. School of Seven Bells - "Windstorm"
Pretty girls with pretty voices title this track aptly.
54. Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - "Round and Round"
Pitchfork's on fucking crack for naming this the best song of 2010, but it's a surprising progression for the longtime indie nutjob nonetheless.
53. Wolf Gang - "Back to Back"
A bright prospect for the next year gives us a small taste of what's hopefully to come.
52. The Besnard Lakes - "Albatross"
Veteran shoegazers up and show the Echo Park children how it's really done.
51. Cold War Kids - "Audience"
The blogosphere's favorite punching bag keeps on doin' them, to fantastic results.
50. Chad Valley - "Up and Down"
This one's like having sex with a rainbow.
49. PVT - "Window"
This one's a bumpy ride, but more than worth the journey.
48. Mumford and Sons - "The Cave"
I am admittedly a complete sucker for some good banjo pluckin'.
47. Perfume Genius - "Mr. Peterson"
Classic love story between an unpopular kid and the suicidal teacher that does things to him in a van....
46. Dr. Dog - "I Only Wear Blue"
The rollicking heart of a fine album is both classic Dr. Dog, and something slightly more epic.
45. Robin Thicke feat. Nicki Minaj - "Shaking It For Daddy"
This one fell through the cracks on the club scene, but deserves a second life now that its guest star has become a supernova.
44. Delphic - "Halcyon"
This British import is like Bloc Party trapped in a Sonic the Hedgehog game. There's no way none of that sounds enticing.
43.Wild Nothing - "Chinatown"
The only problem with the chillwave aesthetic is that it becomes rather difficult to describe any of the songs. Thankfully, Wild Nothing went ahead and decided it sounds like Chinatown. They were correct.
42. Cee-Lo Green - "Fuck You"
And, uh, fuck you too...
41. Diamond Rings - "Show Me Your Stuff"
In which a young Torontonian makes like a male, low-budget Lady Gaga except way gayer. Say what you will about his fashion choices; once this song finally gets to its hook, it's got you in the palm of its hand.
40. James Blake - "Limit to Your Love"
Silly Americans. For some reason, in 2010, the masses here finally discovered dubstep about 4 years late. Over in England, they're already moving on to "post-dubstep"(don't get me started) as evidenced by the shimmering base used to round out a fine Fiest cover. Look for this guy to be a very big deal in 2011, since to be fair, he already kind of is....
39. HEALTH - "USA Boys"
The progression of this band from Smell-playing noise rock group to a nuanced, pulse-pounding, Trent Reznor-mentored electronic act has been a thing of beauty. If their second remix album released this year was a victory lap, then this standalone single was the National Anthem played on the podium.
38. Jukebox the Ghost - "Summer Sun"
Much of the DC trio's new album is a distillation of what made the first one work so well, but this track's a brief detour somewhere much more passionate. Next time around, maybe it'll be less a detour and more an actual route.
37. Kid Cudi - "Revofev"
The most stoned man in music (and that's quite an accomplishment) somehow manages to put a single this brilliant and bizarre together in seemingly no time flat. Maybe he's onto something.
36. Crystal Castles - "Vietnam"
By this point in the album, the glitch-core duo have already proven that they're no flash in the pan, but the mood changes yet again halfway through this track, which played on repeat far too many times to count in my car this year. Driving on the 101 at night to this one should come with a personalized warning.
35. These New Puritans - "Hologram"
The British post-post-punkers (again, don't get me started) take a break from Halo-ready attack music and give us a quick glimpse of something even more astonishing.
34. Broken Bells - "The Ghost Inside"
Beautiful song, beautiful video, beautiful leading lady. All 3 are connected to each other now. I can't break them up, nor would I ever want to.
33. Drake feat T.I. & Swizz Beats - "Fancy"
Raise your hand if you quoted this song in 2010. Everyone reading this just raised their hand. Fact.
32.Local Natives - "Airplanes"
New best song to cradle a scotch to at last call. Not that I'd know....
31. The Deadly Syndrome - "Villain"
"Why don't you fuck off and die" has never sounded like a sweeter refrain. Really.
30. Big Boi feat. Cutty - "Shutterbug"
Big Boi even conquers nonstop album delays with a track that'd sound fresh just about any year it was released.
29. Maximum Balloon feat. Theophilus London - "Groove Me"
Sit back, relax and enjoyyyyy....
28. Surfer Blood - "Anchorage"
The vast majority of the Florida surfy/garage-y boys' album had been heard live and through EPs before it was released this year, but this one was a pleasant surprise when the album was played for the first time, already sounding like a deep cut off a sophomore album. If nothing else, it proved these guys are gonna have legs.
27. Titus Andronicus - "A More Perfect Union"
The bastard son Springsteen and Shane McGowan would both be proud to claim.
26. Best Coast - "Boyfriend"
Sometimes, when a song is simple enough, the words hit that much harder. Make no mistake: you will feel every teenage girl's heartbreak in about 3 minutes. But it'll be ok. I promise.
25. Mark Ronson and the Business Intl. feat. Boy George - "Somebody to Love Me"
Speaking of heartbreak, Ronson enlists Boy George for a track that full on tears the organ out of your chest, Temple of Doom style. The stunning video (featuring an unrecognizable Dianne Kruger as the Culture Club singer) drives the melancholy into the open wound. It's tough to shake this one.
24. Foals - "Spanish Sahara"
Foals flipped their game on their sophomore effort, putting away the power-yelping and opting for slow builds and crashes instead. This one should prove it was a wise path to take. Put it on in the background, and it'll sneak up and floor you.
23. Wavves - "Baby Say Goodbye"
In which a formerly overrated hype-bag gets punctured, falls down to Earth, and finally creates something worthy of hype. And then some.
22. The Walkmen - "Angela Surf City"
Oh, he's just bein' Hamilton...
21. Glasser - "Home"
Dreamy doesn't even begin to describe every aspect of this song.
20. Gorillaz - "On Melancholy Hill"
It's a tough and diverse choice amongst Plastic Beach's many outstanding tracks, but this one, with all the guests, bells, and whistles removed, is the one I come back to the most all these months later. There must be a reason for that.
19. Scissor Sisters feat. Sir Ian McKellan - "Invisible Light"
In which Jake Shears attempts to create a super-gay Thriller and enlists Gandalf as his Vincent Price. He succeeds.
18. Janelle Monae - "Cold War"
This blistering single is a highlight of a ridiculously ambitious album, taking a break from robots and symphonies to deliver a shot of adrenaline that could bring a corpse back from the dead.
17. The Black Keys - "Everlasting Light"
You will get laid if you play this song, 9 times out of 10. Another fact.
16. The National - "Terrible Love"
You may know the song, but it's worth clicking the link to see this performed live. As usual for the band, it's drunken, messy and altogether brilliant.
15. Beach House - "Walk in the Park"
The most epic of Teen Dream's hazy little masterpieces packs more romance, drama and life into its 5 minutes than most films do in two hours.
14. Salem - "King Night"
One of my favorite moments in music this year was around the 2/3 mark of this song, when I finally realized what I'd been listening to the entire time. Let's just say once the distortion lifts, you may have a mini-religious experience.
13. Wolf Parade - "In the Direction of the Moon"
Expo 86's freakiest track is of course a Krug-penned number about being a wall slowly choked/embraced by ivy. Yes, it's okay to be awkwardly aroused.
12. Sleigh Bells - "Tell 'Em"
As with Surfer Blood, most of Treats had been heard in one form or another last year. But the day this single was released, you could hear the tops blown off music nerds nationwide. Running away from the low-fi aesthetic of their early EP, it was immediately clear these guys had bigger plans in mind. And they want everyone else to do their best too.
11.Yeasayer - "Madder Red"
The first great track of 2010 still holds up, even if the album was ultimately uneven.
10.Givers - "Up Up Up"
These guys deserve to be fucking HUGE in 2011. Like a deep-south Dirty Projectors (whom they toured with) blasted with hippie dust (whatever that is), they bring an energy to their live shows that really has to be experienced to be believed. A trickle of EPs and singles just isn't enough. This is one album I want right now.
09. LCD Soundsystem - "Dance Yrself Clean"
Another musical highlight of the year is what happens about 3 minutes into the This Is Happening opener. Press play and let it just happen....
08. Robyn - "Dancing on My Own"
No matter who you are, you've probably felt this way more than once in your life. Blast this and let all the built-up angst out in two fist pumps. Or in whatever manner you desire.
07. Vampire Weekend - "Diplomat's Son"
Contra is all killer, no filler, but the boys outdo their own cleverness on this soaring climax, crafting an inverted "Paper Planes" while singing about weed, rock, and homoeroticism. Where Diplo took a famous Clash guitar riff and looped it for the M.I.A. smash, they take an M.I.A. sample and title the whole thing in honor of Joe Strummer. Witty stuff, but it'd be hollow if the song itself fell flat. Luckily, it doesn't, instead veering wildly between dub, dancehall and (of course) Afropop, crafting its own rhythm as it goes. If nothing else, it's truly saying something for 2010 if a song this genius, that could top a milllion lists any other year, lands at #7 here.
06. Sufjan Stevens - "Vesuvius"
Choosing one song from Age of Adz is a difficult task, considering no two sound the same, but seeing this one live pushed it over the edge. Click the link and try to imagine seeing and feeling this right in front of you. The guy behind me who breathlessly muttered "whoah.....that was fucking intense!!!" pretty much summed it up better than I could here. Just watch this shit.
05. Cults - "Go Outside"
Along with Givers and James Blake, Cults stand equally tall as one of the Great Hopes of 2011, for the sheer fact that they seem to be making music in a bubble. Nobody sounds like them, or writes like them. They're a creepy (check the Jim Jones monologue embedded in the song's opening) young powerhouse that's demonstrated versatility and well-earned shock value this year. Let's hope the LP lives up to the promise.
04. Katy Perry - "Teenage Dream"
I realize some of you may think ranking this as high as it is might qualify as insanity, but if that's the case, consider me gleefully nuts, as this is hands-down, one of the best pop songs of the (admittedly short) century so far. A perfectly aimed bass line, lyrics that simultaneously conjure nostalgia and anticipation, and delivery that somehow remains cheese-free all combine to make a nuclear bomb of a pop tart; one I've heard about 4000 times on the radio at this point, and haven't even come close to getting sick of. Black magic is at work here...
03. Kanye West - "All of the Lights"
On an album of beautiful clusterfucks, this one's a gorgeous 405 gridlock: Rihanna, Fergie, Elton John, Kid Cudi, Alicia Keys and I'm sure at least 5 people I'm leaving out all guest on Kanye's narrative epic about a down-on-his luck loser who keeps shooting himself in the foot. Kanye gets a lot of well-deserved flack for being an egomaniac in real life, but as an artist, he's downright generous with his collaborators, crafting a collective experience for the listener before ever stooping to create a showcase for his own vanity. Proof positive is right here, where he gives everyone else the best parts of the song, and seems content to sit back and watch the out-of-control party he's just created.
02. Sufjan Stevens - "All Delighted People"
While Age of Adz showcased Sufjan breaking into bold new territory, the All Delighted People EP proved that the Sufjan of old is still alive and well, beneath the futuristic exterior. The crushing title track, a call-and-response to Simon & Garfunkle's "Sound of Silence" (we need to start crafting bigger adjectives than "ambitious" just for this guy) folds over ten minutes like a Mad Magazine "What Me Worry" riddle, leaving you awash in a great many thoughts that only begin to make sense as the song spins wildly to the finale. When it's over, you feel like you just survived a mini-apocalypse. And survival is the thing it seems Sufjan wants you to take note of.
01. Arcade Fire - "Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)"
I don't think I've ever listened to one song more times in a row than I have this. Not only does "Sprawl II" display supernatural replay value, but it only seems to grow with every listen. With Regine taking the reigns (as she seems to do at least once or twice an album) on vocals, and syth and drum machines boldly put to use in a grand experiment, the band's trademark rage against the dying of the light has never sounded more beautiful, or more hopeful. The song joins the grand pantheon of classics this band has cranked out, like "Rebellion (Lies)" and "Wake Up", but where those songs were a call to arms against a deadening force, this one feels oddly re-assuring. The world may be going to hell in a handbasket, but so long as a few of us have each other, the time we have left will be fine time indeed. The kiss between Regine and Win that's ended more than one live performance of this seems to highlight this tiny epiphany, and colors a band we thought we all knew with a whole other layer of romance. Fighting for something is admirable, but remembering what you're fighting for is most admirable of all.
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